To Regain Their Trust
by Orange Headphones
Summary: When a new foe comes to Hyrule and makes Link an outlaw, he must do what he can to prove his innocence.
1. At First

It seemed another fine day for Link. Everything seemed to be going his way. Life should be good for him too. He had risked his neck for his land of Hyrule, and was the Hero of Time, and had soon after left for and returned from Termina. With two adventures under his belt, Link decided to rest for a while, but perhaps he rested too long.

One day, a man came to the land of Hyrule through a port in Lake Hylia, and the man alone looked fearsome. He loomed over almost anyone at 7 foot 2. Despite his amazingly unnatural height, he was a stick. Unlike most people though, he had an amazing sense of knowledge and cunning. In simpler terms, the man knew how to get what he wanted and to brainwash people with words. Alongside this man stood his assistant, named Tom. Tom was a shorter fellow who followed his master, Swipe's, orders reluctantly because he owed Swipe his life.

Regardless of all circumstances regarding Swipe's past, he decided to pay a visit to the Princess Zelda, to gain her favor and to turn her will to mirror his. With his wit and cunning, often mistaken for charm, he quickly turned the princess against the hero of the land. He convinced her that he was a lazy bum who never did anything at all, despite the truth being that he was resting from nearly fatal wounds he suffered at the hands of mighty and evil beasts.

The next morning as Link stepped into town, Swipe approached him, appearing as though he was in mortal pain. He asked Link, "Please good sir, I need help. My good friend is being attacked by some Redead in the graveyard." Link quickly rushed off to the graveyard to help this civilian's good friend, who just happened to be Tom, while Swipe went off to raid Link of his items. 'This is just too easy.'

In the graveyard, Tom was feigning struggling with the Redead. Link struck them down in a few minutes and then Tom started up a conversation with Link.

"Sir, thank you for what you have done."

"Don't worry about it, um. What's your name?"

"Call me Tom. I offer the same question to you."

"Haven't you heard of Link, the Hero of Time?"

"Yes. Why?"

"That's me."

"Well thank you Sir Link. May our paths cross again one day."

Link then returned to his house, and he saw that his armory was raided. The first words through his head were 'WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE?' He saw that all the walls were bare. All of his masks, tunics, swords, shields, bombs, arrows, bows, hookshots, and boots. Now all of his possessions consisted of what he had on him. All of that was consisted of a Kokiri Tunic, Kokiri Boots, and his hat. His mind raced to what Zelda could do to help him rectify this situation.

As he raced to Hyrule Castle to consult Zelda on what had just happened, he saw the gate rising in broad daylight. This posed a problem to say the least. Link knew that he could not use the Ocarina of Time to warp over the walls. So he figured that his only chance over the walls was to scale them. Sadly, Link could not find a hand or foothold, so then he remembered that Malon could get into the market on business, so he decided to consult her on this problem.

As Link was on his way to Lon Lon Ranch, Swipe was busy talking to Zelda. He was trying to frame Link and convince her of these things. After a while, Zelda was growing more and more annoyed by the minute with Swipe.

Link was soon in Lon Lon Ranch, and busy talking to Malon. He struck a deal with her. He would fix up this ranch, and she would take him into town. It took Link a good deal of time, but after several hours of repairing stables, cutting grass, organizing crates, gathering the cuckoos into their pen, and getting the horses into the corral.

All the while Swipe was trying to convince Zelda of Link's traitorous actions, but she would not buy his story. Then Swipe started to use his brain, and he concocted a scheme so dastardly and convincing, that Zelda finally started to agree with him, and thus outlawed Link, and let Swipe take her father's place as ruler of Hyrule.

With Malon's help, Link finally made it into the castle town. As he stepped into town, he heard an announcement. "Hear ye, hear ye. The former Hero of Time, Link, is now a menace to society, and is now a fugitive." Link figured that this must be another one of Zelda's jokes, so he decided to stealthily venture to the castle.

As night fell, he snuck into the castle through the courtyard entrance. He was surprised to find that Zelda was not there, but as he peeked through the window, he saw a very tall and odd-looking man seated on the throne, and saw Zelda, bound and gagged, being escorted to the dungeons. He knew that he must find her and rescue her.

He made his way towards the dungeons in stealth and secrecy. He made his way to Zelda's cell and picked the lock. Yet oddly enough, Zelda struggled whenever Link came near her.

He asked, "Zelda, what's wrong?"

Her response was an angry one, "YOU."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me mister. You know what you did."

"No I don't. How bout you tell me?"

"Hell no. But I will do this for you. For releasing me from these dungeons I will scatter your stolen items throughout the land of Hyrule, and will not allow anyone in Kokiri Forest. That will be your safe haven. Good-bye Link. May you make Hyrule a better place."

Link was still confused as to what was happening, but he fled to the forest for his life, because if he was a fugitive, he did not want to face the consequences that come with that title. When he got there, he decided that he had to make his way back to power by slowly but surely regaining his lost items.


	2. In The Forest

The first person that he went to for knowledge of where his items may be was Saria. She told him that there was indeed a weapon of his in the Forest Temple, but it would be very dangerous to try and acquire it, because he had no protection. Despite that, Link decided that he would rather risk injury to acquire a weapon in his safe haven of the forest than out in the open where he would have no luck to accomplish his mission.

The youth then ventured unarmed into the Lost Woods. Quickly and skillfully he made his way through them and into the Sacred Forest Meadow, and through there to the warp pad in front of the Forest Temple.

The steps were still demolished, and because of this Link didn't see a way up into the temple. Link paused and thought about this situation. Then, as if out of nowhere, a wolfos appeared. At first, Link thought nothing of it because wolfos were very common in the Sacred Forest Meadow. Then he saw that it had his hookshot. Link had no weapons, and he had never fought without any.

Quickly, he caught sight of a branch dangling from the vines in front of him. He leaped and snagged it with amazing reflexes. In a heartbeat, the stick was smashed over the wolfos's head and the wolfos was defeated. In its place appeared the hookshot, Link's key to getting into the Forest Temple.

Link latched onto the high branch before the entrance to the temple and entered the temple. It looked the same as it did before, dark and dingy, but Link had a feeling that one of his items lurked inside.

Once inside the main chamber of the temple, Link saw that his elevator down was open, so he went down through it, looking for a way to regain his arsenal of items. With the hookshot alone, he marched through to the old arena where Phantom Ganon once resided. Inside he saw a moblin.

Only armed with his hookshot, Link readied to fight this dimwitted but powerful foe. Link leaped up onto the platform that the moblin stood upon. Almost instantly, the moblin started to attack the man in green. Quickly, Link latched up to the ceiling with the use of his hookshot. Then he dropped, kicking the moblin in its back.

The monster fell down, a bit confused. Suddenly, with Link on its back, it reared up and returned to its upright position, knocking Link off of him, with a look of rage upon its face.

Despite the momentary surprise of being knocked to the ground, Link kept his cool. As the moblin charged, Link fired the hookshot to the ceiling again and avoided the charge. As he landed on the ground, he fired at the beast's eyes. Connecting, the moblin cried out in pain as Link took its legs out from under it. Link grabbed the spear and used it to defeat the moblin.

As it was destroyed, Link saw that the item it held was his old Kokiri Sword. It may have been a small one for him now, but it would have to do until Link could find a better weapon.

Returning to the main hub of the forest, it was brought to Link's attention that there was a shield located inside the Deku Tree, which was something he would not miss out at a chance at.

Once inside the legendary tree, Link saw that again it was infested by foes. This time, there were two differences to the past: he was more experienced in battle and he did not have a shield to defend himself with. The latter was of no concern to Link; he would fight to regain a shield of his.

Due to his older age, Link dropped down to the lower level of the Deku Tree. Once down there, there were more than just three Deku Scrubs; there were a trio of mad scrubs waiting to fight him.

After fighting all three of them, Link entered the next chamber. Once inside, again, he was locked in the chamber. The beast inside the chamber was a giant Deku-Baba with three heads instead of the usual one.

Link gripped his Kokiri Sword. The blade was little more than a dagger to him, but it was his only real weapon. In his other hand he held his hookshot, ready to stun the heads if he could.

The Deku-Baba hissed and struck at Link with one head. Link stepped to the right, but was struck with another of the heads. Falling back, Link quickly shielded himself by aiming his hookshot to avoid further damage from the Deku-Baba with three heads. Link struck at one of the heads' stem, severing it from the plant. Unfortunately it was not that quick to die, as it soon grew another head back in its place.

Link then realized what would defeat this beast, a quick strike at all the heads. The window of opportunity would be slim, but it would exist. First the heads would all have to be stunned; then all three would have to be struck with a spinning sword attack. With his limited range, Link had to be in perfect position.

It was an all-or nothing situation. If this strategy worked, the tri-headed beast would be defeated; if not, this beast would almost certainly devour Link, leaving his mission uncompleted.

So he fired his hookshot at the beast's three heads, momentarily stunning them. He quickly ran into position to deliver his attack. As he pulled out his sword, he saw the stun starting to wear off, leaving him with no time for hesitation. He stretched his arm out, getting it in position, and then spun on his heel.

As the attack hit its first target, the stun over the two other heads had just worn off. In the face of considerable damage, Link kept his cool and continued his attack. The half-second before the third head could strike Link, it was stuck off.

The shield that appeared was Link's trademark Hylian Shield, trusty and durable. He stepped out of the tree from which he came out of with a shield at his back, ready to test his luck outside of the forest, where he would be an outlaw, easy enough to send to prison, but he'd gladly risk something like that for his beloved Hyrule. Link was determined to gather his other weapons and use them to make sure whoever had imprisoned the princess was handled.


	3. Escape

As soon as he stepped outside of the forest, armed with such menial weapons, Link realized that securing his other items would certainly be a challenge, as instead of Hyrule Field being wide open, it was heavily guarded by the Hyaline Army, searching for the fugitive Link. It seemed that this time, for the first time, Link would only be able to succeed using stealth instead of brute force, as that was all that he had to use against them. If he were captured, he certainly wouldn't be able to escape the prison of Hyrule Castle, subsequently not doing what he set out to do. He would do it, he believed, simply because it must be done.

The first thing that Link decided he would have to do was to wait for the evening, as that was the only time that he could successfully sneak around these guards, as they were not as stupid as they had been before, Link's previous experiences had led to an increase in the awareness of Hyrule's security.

As night fell, Link set out around the field, sneaking past the guards, doing what he could to make sure that they didn't notice him. Quickly, the hero made his way to the river in the east of Hyrule, hoping to hide in there and venture his way through to Zora's domain, where he could hopefully find another one of his key items, though he wasn't quite looking forward to seeing Ruto again, if he had to see her.

Swimming upstream, Link was reminded that swimming through the streams was not quite as simple as it seemed, as the current was constantly pushing Link backwards, forcing him to exert his whole strength to move slowly upriver. However, that could not stop Link, because he would not quit in his venture, he knew what he would have to do. Something was astray, and perhaps gathering his items would change that.

When dawn hit, Link was safely hidden in the shadows outside Zora's domain, waiting to make sure guards were not stationed outside the domain. Quickly seeing that no one lay close enough to the domain to capture him, Link attempted a risky maneuver and tried to dive through the heavy waterfall. Luckily, Link made it through.

When Link entered the domain, there was again an icy chill to the area, almost as if it were frozen again. Checking, Link saw that the domain was not physically frozen, but then definitely there was an evil presence there, seeming to emanate from the throne room, King Zora's throne room.

Sneaking around near the throne room, Link heard a sinister voice that he did not remember hearing before. The voice was almost reminiscent of Ganondorf himself. However, this was not the great king of evil; he was someone completely different. This man was Swipe.

Realizing that he was in no position to fight, Link sprinted to the lower level of the domain and hid himself near the entrance to the shop, while still being able to hear the voice of Swipe and he paid special attention to the conversation.

"So Zora King, do you understand me?" the dark-voiced man started.

"So Link is on Ganon's side and has been all this time?" the confused zora asked.

"So now you finally understand, don't you?"

"I think I do."

"Wonderful. Oh, and if you wouldn't be too troubled to do so, please send your security after the youth, as he is quite dangerous."

"If you think it's a fitting idea, then I will do it."

"Good, and now I must be off."

After hearing this, Link, though nervous, tried to calmly figure a way out of the domain to attempt to find another area besides the forest to locate another item to fight and better Hyrule. He figured that the safest place besides the forest for Link would be in Goron City with his "Sworn Brother" Darunia who he hoped would shelter him for a while.

Unfortunately, escaping the domain was not as simple as it seemed. Despite their naturally laidback demeanor, the Zoras were a race that knew how to skillfully fight any foe with agility and stealth when near water. Zora fins effectively worked as boomerangs, so they wouldn't necessarily do tremendous damage, but would allow any Zora to approach and damage Link.

Trapped near the shop with nothing at hand except a sword, shield, and a few scattered rupees that Link found whilst fighting monsters, the swordsman of green found little hope except to enter the shop and hope that there was an item that he could use to exit the area.

Inside the moist rock shop, Link saw that they were selling an ocarina for 300 rupees, which was much more than Link had on him at the moment, as well as a cheaply made fishbone guitar for thirty-five rupees, two less than Link had on his person at the time. So he bought the guitar and hoped that his strategy would work. Rapidly with worry, Link played the Bolero of Fire in an attempt to warp outside of the domain, close to where Darunia lived.

Luckily, the plan worked and Link was transported into the scorching red magma chamber that was Death Mountain Crater, so appropriately named for the heat and flames could kill most any man. Link valiantly tried to escape from the crater, but in the heat the cheap guitar melted and the bridge out of the crater was still out of commission. Soon Link succumbed to the furnace of the crater, hoping for some miracle to survive.

When Link opened his eyes again, he felt a cooler air surrounding him and the sense that he was being watched. Focusing, he saw that his good friend and Sworn Brother Darunia the Goron stood over him. The powerful rock-eating creature wore a smile on his worn face when he realized that Link had finally woken from his slumber.

Link, still somewhat confused as to the events that had just occurred, asked the Sage of Fire, "Where exactly are we?"

Darunia chuckled and told Link, "Don't you realize? We're here in my chamber of Goron City. It's the same place I first met you, my good friend. Though, I have a question for you: why were you in the crater without the protection of your Goron Tunic?"

Link's eyes opened widely, remembering what had happened just prior to waking up fully. "Well," he almost nervously began, "I was fleeing."

The Goron leader, full of both disbelief and concern, asked the man of forest green, "What do you mean? Fleeing from what?"

Link slowly sat up and attempted to recount what had happened. "Well, I don't exactly know what happened, but somehow I'm an outlaw in Hyrule, probably because of this new man to walk the face of Hyrule. While I've never seen the man, he's responsible for me being a fugitive in the eyes of the Hylian crown. I was supposedly bound to the southern forest, but I escaped it to venture north, escaping to the Zora domain. Unfortunately, there also is someone out there who has stolen and dispersed all of my items throughout Hyrule. All I have is my Hylian Shield, my Kokiri Sword, and two rupees. That's what's happened to me the past three days."

Link's Sworn Brother simply chuckled and said to him, "It seems you've had quite an ordeal. Rest here, I know you are not the man to do any deeds that would cause you to be an outlaw unless you had to do it to survive. I know you."

Link, for the first time since he was in the forest, relaxed his muscles, knowing that there indeed was no need for him to worry just yet. Instead, he knew he had the chance to explore Goron City and its surrounding territory to search for another of his lost items. He graciously thanked Darunia for the service of helping him but realized that he had places to go.

While he knew he couldn't yet afford anything, Link looked through the shops in Goron City to see what he could save while exploring the land of Hyrule for his other items. Inside one of them, he saw that there was his Goron Mask from his secondary quest in Termina.

Inquiring about it, the shopkeeper, knowing Link, generously told Link that if he would willingly give it to him for a single rupee, which Link had on him. Curious to the authenticity of the mask after getting it for such a cheap price, Link quickly asked to try it on. Sadly, it was not the mask he acquired in Termina, but instead the useless one from the Happy Mask Salesman when he was in Hyrule. Link realized that it could be a tool of deception if he might need it, so still bought it.

Link quickly left the city afterwards to be on the steep and dangerous rocky cliffs of Death Mountain, aptly named for the number of people who met their end falling off it or being crushed by its boulders, looking for Dodongo's Cavern. Approaching the site of his first dungeon outside of the forest from his youth, he entered the dark cavern yet again.

Immediately the old musty smell of the cavern filled his nostrils, knowing full well that there was something in there that could endanger him, while he hoped he could instead fight another creature for the ability to regain one of his items.

Instead of wasting any time, Link proceeded directly to the arena where he fought King Dodongo those many years ago. He knew that if there was to be something awaiting him in this dungeon, it would be in that room. Hopefully whatever item he could find in the room, albeit not likely something that would make his final quest easy in comparison with the challenges of new foes that he faced here, would be an item that he would need to locate another dungeon and from which could unlock a way to lead to his Master Sword and his Ocarina of Time, needed to allow him to warp to the Castle Market that had been closed off to visitors. With those two items, Link had a chance to overthrow whoever had made him an outlaw.

Inside that room was a large Flare Dancer. As all Flare Dancers do, this one started out with its flames for limbs. However, this Flare Dancer was a bit different than other ones, as in one of its flaming hands was a sword of fire, giving it a new medium to fight through. Link readily welcomed the challenge that it presented.

When Link figured he had victory nearly guaranteed, he shot the hookshot at the Flare Dancer. Much to Link's surprise, the hookshot was knocked away by the Flare Dancer's flaming sword. Link could very nearly detect a smile on its face. Suddenly, this fight would be a little more complicated than he thought it would be. With his dagger of a sword, he knew that a swordfight with the creature would be next to impossible.

However, Link had done the nearly impossible before in his life. Considering that he had no better options at the moment, he unsheathed his small Kokiri Sword and grabbed his shield with his right hand.

Nearing close to the creature, Link took the dagger of a sword and thrust it against the fiery creature's longer flaming sword. As the two blades collided, a shower of sparks flooded the room, nearly causing Link to drop his sword. However, through a little luck, Link was able to block a high strike with his shield while delivering a stab to the core of the Flare Dancer.

This effective blow caused the Flare Dancer to use its flaming sword to knock Link backwards a few feet. Before it could follow that up with another strike, Link got back to his feet and parried the attack with his smaller sword, finishing by jabbing at the core again, however, this time he used the edge of his shield to do the damage.

Realizing that continuing to fight in the same manner would result in its demise, the Flare Dancer conjured a shield of fire that it used upon its left arm. However, as a result of this new weapon, a hole was now visible in the back of the Flare Dancer, allowing it to be defeated from behind.

Seeing this, Link figured that if he couldn't effectively attack the Flare Dancer from in front of it, he would have to sneak around to the back of it and see if he could deliver any attacks to its open weakness before it would turn around.

Hoping that it could now prevent Link from delivering a decisive blow with its new shield, the Flare Dancer charged after Link, ready to strike with its sword. Link effectively decided to take the brunt of the attack with his shield, causing no damage. Continuing the barrage of swipes and slashes, the Flare Dancer hoped to tire out Link or finally deliver an effective attack. Fortunately, none of the attacks were effective: whatever ones weren't blocked with the shield were blocked with the point of Link's sword.

Spotting a crucial point in the room, Link saw that a small grate was present in the closest wall. When Link took out his hookshot, the Flare Dancer, thinking he was aiming for the weak point in front, moved its flaming shield over the area. However, Link fired the hookshot and it grappled onto the grating, allowing Link to appear behind the Flare Dancer. Before the creature had the chance to defend itself, Link stabbed it a multitude of times in its weak spot, successfully defeating it.

From the ashes of the flaming foe, Link saw his old Goron Tunic. Putting on the red tunic, Link felt the cooling fabric act as armor, effectively guarding him from great heat, the type of heat he likely would find venturing into the Fire Temple, the next place he intended to visit.


	4. Into The Flames

When Link returned to Goron City, he sensed that something was amiss. Inside of the city within a mountain, there was a sense of worry and haste about the usually calm and lax Gorons. Realizing that whatever the commotion was might be in relation to him, Link slowly and carefully made his way to Darunia's personal chamber.

Though he had seen nothing on his way to the chamber, Link paused and stood outside the chamber, listening to see if anything to change his fate waited inside.

Pressing his ear to the stone doorway, Link heard the furious voice of a man he had heard before in the Zora's Domain: Swipe. Unlike the passive and easily manipulated Zora King, Darunia would not listen to whatever Swipe would say about Link.

"…Now listen to me. I tell you Link did horrible deeds," Link heard the voice of his unknown foe.

"If you think I'm going to buy that group of lies, then you're stupider than I thought. I know Link, and he would never do things like that."

"I didn't want to have to do this," Swipe menacingly threatened, "but I guess you won't listen to reason."

From behind the stone door, Link heard what sounded like a fight, but unlike Link hoped, the one bearing the sounds of pain was Darunia. Somehow Swipe seemed able to fight just slightly better than Darunia. The green-clad hero nearly figured he had a build similar to that of his infernal rival, Ganondorf.

When the signs of the brawl died down somewhat, Link heard a massive groan from his Goron friend. Afterwards, the rock-eating creature was asked the same thing Link heard King Zora hear. Sadly, Link also heard Darunia respond the same way King Zora responded to the same request. Simply, Swipe must have done something to Darunia's mind.

Knowing that the situation wouldn't turn out favorably if Darunia, especially in the state he was in, found out where he was, Link slipped into the Goron shop, where he knew he could listen to the events outside without being seen.

Shortly, Darunia exited his chamber and in a trancelike state called out, "Link, Link!" with more and more ferocity each time. Link stayed back until he heard Darunia go further away in Goron city, then, taking his chances, dashed into Darunia's chamber and pushed the stone ornament in the back of the room sideways and escaping into Death Mountain Crater.

In the center of the volcanic mountain, Link quickly donned his newly reacquired Goron Tunic. The flame-retardant tunic somehow gave Link the ability to avoid the heat of Death Mountain. Without the threat of the heat this time, Link ventured to the Fire Temple and inside the subterranean Hylian temple.

Venturing through the old stone of the Fire Temple, Link found not much had changed in the first few rooms, but when he entered the chamber that had belonged to Volvagia, figuring that something would be awaiting him, Link saw himself face to face with what seemed to be a reanimated King Dodongo.

After shaking his head to make sure he wasn't seeing something, Link drew his sword and shield and readied himself to fight this behemoth of a creature. Examining his opponent for a moment, Link found him to be somewhat larger than before. Also, Link noticed, it seemed as if it had something upon its mouth, as if whoever brought it back compensated for its one known weakness.

Upon the circular platform, Link knew his best attempt at an attack would be to attack King Dodongo from behind; he knew the tail of a Dodongo was the second greatest weakness from years of fighting creatures in Hyrule.

Trying to circle around the behemoth, Link found that it was able to turn just as quickly as Link could attempt to leap and roll around it; it was just too big to get behind normally. Realizing this, Link knew that he'd have to be somewhat creative in order to get behind King Dodongo.

However, Link had very little time to think about a new strategy before King Dodongo, compensating for his inability to use his flaming breath, came charging in Link's direction. King Dodongo came at Link so quickly that he barely had time to get out of the way of the massive beast.

Seeing how slow King Dodongo was to return to facing Link, he took a chance and swung his sword at the tail of his foe. Link had managed to strike a powerful blow on a tender area of the lumbering beast.

Figuring he could continue to bait his foe into repeating the pattern, Link stood at the edge of the platform and with his eyes he challenged King Dodongo to come over and try to knock him off of the platform. Knowing exactly what he was doing, Link waited as the charge came, and he circled over to the right and again delivered a powerful strike to the beast's tail.

In reaction to the pain, the Dodongo thrashed its head against the ground, thus destroying the contraption upon its mouth. With its fire breath back, Link knew that since he didn't possess any bombs, he wouldn't be able to make the beast swallow any like he had as a child.

Hoping that the flames couldn't stretch across the entire platform, Link again visited the edge, again beckoning the lumbering behemoth to come his way and attack him. Yet again, King Dodongo charged at Link who just managed to avoid the charge again.

Taking full advantage of one of the last chances he would have to attack King Dodongo directly, Link leapt and, in midair, brought the full force of his sword down upon the beast's tail, effectively severing it.

Without its tail, King Dodongo did not have the full balance he had before, but that didn't matter much to Link who rolled to his left to successfully avoid a blast of fire. Trying to find another weak point, Link came to the realization that the only other way to damage his opponent was to attack his head, but that would be nearly impossible.

Taking one big chance, Link came to the edge of the circular platform again and stood, though not as confidently as before. When King Dodongo came charging after Link, the swordsman swung his sword powerfully squarely into the crown of the head of his opponent in this battle.

The force of the impact caused the great beast to sway for a moment and then, in a somewhat dizzy haze, run at Link, but fall over and into the lava surrounding the circular platform. Yet again, the powerful King Dodongo had sealed his own fate with a careless attack.

Once it was certain that King Dodongo had been destroyed, Link sheathed his sword and returned his shield to its rightful place on his back. Looking about him for the spoils of his victory, Link found the item he had been hoping for: the Ocarina of Time.

Picking up the blue ocarina, Link knew that he had only a little further to go before he could successfully regain his honor and the trust of the Hylians he swore his life to protect.

Playing a familiar tune on that Ocarina, Link warped to the Temple of Time. From that temple, located in the heart of Hyrule Castle Town, Link looked towards the Door of Time. Seeing that the three Spiritual Stones (the Kokiri's Emerald, the Goron's Ruby, and the Zora's Sapphire) were still set in the Altar of Time, Link took out the ocarina and played the Song of Time.

Almost immediately, the Door of Time opened, revealing the chamber that still held the Master Sword. Grasping the hilt of the legendary blade, Link drew the blade of evil's bane from its place in the Pedestal of Time. Brandishing the mighty blade, Link prepared for his ensuing battle with Swipe.


	5. To Hyrule Castle

Walking out from the Temple of Time, Link found that Hyrule Castle Town was in somewhat similar shape from when he was there last. Though he knew that there was a man that he opposed with the whole of his being, the town seemed strangely calm.

However, once someone recognized who he was, Link was swarmed by the townspeople who seemed to be following the ordinance that had officially marked Link as an outlaw. Though he knew that the behavior of the townspeople was not entirely their own fault, it didn't stop Link from getting somewhat annoyed and having to dig his way out of the center of the crowd.

When he escaped to the area just outside of Hyrule Castle, Link breathed a brief sigh of relief from escaping the crowd; strangely they never seemed to pursue him much further than the furthest confines of the area they were in. However, shaking his head again, Link drew the Master Sword from its sheath and removed the Hylian Shield from his back and set off to Hyrule Castle.

Thankfully, Link encountered no guards on his way up to the castle, but when he first entered the gates of the castle, he was surprised that he encountered the same man he had rescued from the graveyard Redead.

In some obvious anger, Link more yelled than asked, "What are you doing here?"

Trying to atone for the work he had previously done, the man said, "Link, is it?"

Nearly growling at the man, he said, "Why do you want to know?"

"Well," Tom began, "I wish to make up for my former actions. I only serve Master Swipe because he graciously rescued me from a similar situation. But truth be told, I hate the man greatly."

Perhaps starting to see another side of the situation he was presented with, Link paused to regain his composure again. When he felt he had regained it, he asked, "So then why do you continue to serve the man if you can't stand him?"

"In my book, good sir, a man is bound to another if that man saves him. Nonetheless, Master Link, I wish to help you. I know that Master Swipe has done something to ruin your standing amongst your fellow Hylians. I wish to help you get your standing back."

Curiously, Link asked, "How do you plan to do that, umm…?"

"The name is Tom. But my point is that I know that Master Swipe has done something to the people around here."

For a moment, Link butted in, "Well, that's obvious." After realizing that he had interrupted Tom, he said, "Sorry. Please go on."

"Well," he continued, "I don't personally know what Master Swipe has done to these Hylians, but I do know that the only way to stop what he's done is to defeat Master Swipe himself. The castle has one central path that can be taken that will lead you straight to Master Swipe. I've made sure that you can take that path without meeting any of his guards."

"Not meaning to ask too much, but do you think that you could get me to another place in the castle?"

"It depends on the place, but I feel that I will be able to do it if you desire it, Master Link. Where do you want to go?"

"Do you think you could arrange it so that I could see Zelda?"

"I don't know. It's a bit risky to try and go from the dungeons to wherever Master Swipe is. If I might ask, Master Link, why is it that you wish to see Princess Zelda?"

Sincerely, Link told Tom, "I want to see if the princess is all right. I know that Swipe did something to her, and I want to see if she's combated that influence."

"But Master Link," Tom confusedly replied, "I don't think that anyone has ever recovered from one of Master Swipe's 'persuasions.'"

"I'll agree that some strong people that I know have been taken by Swipe's methods, but I know that none of them have a piece of the Triforce. Zelda does, and I know that even she was fading from his control at times before she sent me off to the forest. That's why I have to go and see Zelda."

"Very well, Master Link, I think you've got a good reason for searching for Princess Zelda in this case. I'll do my best to help you with that."

"Tom, I have just one more thing to say to you."

"Yes, Master Link?"

"Please don't call me 'Master Link' or anything like that. I'm just another guy."

"That sounds fair enough, fair enough."

As he had promised, Tom guided Link to the dungeons that he knew Zelda was in. Link anxiously peered around in the dungeon, looking to find Zelda quickly. When he spotted her, he quickly threw a nod in the direction of Tom and then ran over to where he knew Zelda was.

Hurriedly, Link yelled, "Zelda. Zelda, is that you?"

Shaking her head a few times, Zelda recognized Link and said, "So it's _you_. What do you want?"

"Zelda," he said while trying to free her from her shackles, "I'm here to free you and take down Swipe; his unnecessarily forced reign of Hyrule is about to come to an end."

"Link, why are you trying to do something like this? Don't you realize who Swipe is?"

"All I know about him is that he's a foul man who seems to want to force his will upon those that he believes are inferior to him. I know he's trying to breed hatred for me, but the thing is that I don't know what I could have done to warrant such behavior by someone like him."

"You're a fool."

"Do you want my help or not, Princess?"

"That's not what I'm talking about. What makes you think you can beat Swipe and get away with it?"

"What do you mean, Zelda?"

"I mean, what makes you think that what he's done is just going to stop as soon as he's beaten. Ganondorf's reign of terror didn't immediately go away when we defeated him. I sent you back to the past to correct what he had done before he had done it."

"Well, I don't know what's going to happen after I fight with him, but I know that he's done some things that were wrong, and I know that something has to happen as a result of that."

"You're crazy; do you know that?"

"I'm sure it sounds crazy, but it's crazy enough to work. Well, Zelda, it's been good to see you, but I know that I've got to go and do this."

"I know. Good luck, Link."

Link did not choose to respond to Zelda with words, but he instead nodded with confidence. He felt that he could do what he set out to do, and Zelda's luck meant as much to him as Tom's help.

"Let's go," Link called to Tom, as the two set out to find their way to Swipe.

After a few minutes, Link and Tom had again successfully avoided guards charging after them. At last they had made it to the chamber where Swipe spent the majority of his time. Tom explained that they had reached their destination, but that he refused to go in to the chamber. Link understood Tom's reason for declining to go inside; he didn't want to bring any harm to Tom from the hand of Swipe. He was ready, and he knew the final battle awaited him.


	6. The Final Battle

When Link stepped into Swipe's chamber, he was met with a simple reply, "So, it's you again."

Knowing that voice to be Swipe's, Link told him, "You know what I'm here for; relinquish your control over the people of Hyrule. You're no ruler, you're just a usurper, looking to invade a place that is not his own."

"You know, Link," Swipe said as he surprisingly calmly walked over to Link, "I think you know what it is that makes everyone come to my side. I have my ways, and they have become my loyal servants. It's time you became one."

Quickly, Swipe jabbed a small object into Link's right arm. For a moment, Link was not himself; it seemed as if something foreign was controlling his system, something that drew him to side with Swipe. Strangely, Link was turned against himself for a moment.

However, that moment didn't last very long. Suddenly, the Triforce of Courage acted from within Link and dispelled the object foreign to his system. When he looked down, Link saw the object that Swipe had placed into his arm; it looked like nothing more than a black shard.

Link shook his head, telling Swipe, "You're a pathetic excuse for a man."

Grinning somewhat, Swipe told him, "If I am, as you tell me, a pathetic excuse for a man, then how come I have so many henchmen to do my bidding? Do you really think you avoided the guards because of that rebellious servant of mine? No. They may have needed some _persuasion_, but soon enough they came over to my side of thinking. ATTACK HIM!"

As Swipe yelled his command, the guards of Hyrule Castle stepped from another room and with the look of a trance look upon their faces slowly marched after Link. Though they were not very strong opponents, Link did not want to attack them; after all, they were not the one he was after. They were merely puppets, not in the state of men.

Knowing a sword would do too much serious damage to the guards, Link decided to fight with these soldiers by using his feet, as he had used with the moblin he fought in the Forest Temple. Rising up into the air, Link powerfully kicked the helmet of the first guard, knocking him to the ground.

When other guards tried to attack him, Link merely crouched and spun his one leg outwards, effectively tripping a mass number of guards. Still, even though they had suffered damage, the guards were somewhat resilient and they returned to their feet. Link quickly grew impatient with having to deal with all of these guards, but he knew he had to keep his composure in battle; to not do so would result in his defeat.

Repeating the process of kicking individual guards, attacking their helmets more than their heads, and sweeping groups of them off of their feet, Link eventually was able to effectively stop the charge of guards, leaving him again alone in the room with Swipe.

Stroking his chin, Swipe told Link, "Hmm…I expected you to be able to defeat these low-rank guards. After all, you're the one who stopped Ganondorf. Are you ready for more fighting?"

Link grinned, saying, "I'm only getting loose. I'll take _you_ on any day of the week."

Again, Swipe merely chuckled. He said, "Now what makes you think that I'm going to fight you. I know you're a better fighter than I am. Besides, that would ruin the fun I'll have when you fight again."

Link only had a moment to think before he saw Darunia drop from the ceiling. From many years of experience, Link knew that Gorons, especially their leader, were a sturdy race, able to withstand much more than Link's boots with ease. Much to Link's disappointment, it seemed he would have to fight with his sword and shield.

As powerful a foe as a Goron like Darunia might have been, Link figured that he would be able to sufficiently stun him if he could hit him squarely with the hilt of the Master Sword, as opposed to the steel of the sword. Still, it would take a mastery of his moves, as well as some significant luck to successfully execute a strategy like that.

Before Link had the option to move away, Darunia rolled up into a ball and hurled himself at Link. The Hero of Time barely managed to dive to his right in order to avoid the powerful attack, made even more deadly by the fact that he was fighting a Goron.

When Link tried to get behind Darunia, his opponent would always turn as quickly as he could run; Link wasn't fighting King Dodongo again. Link saw nothing behind his opponent to latch on to with his hookshot, so he felt at a loss for what to do.

Before he rolled after Link again, Darunia angrily growled like a controlled beast, "Die, you non-Goron scum."

After avoiding this attack, but again just barely, Link grabbed the Goron mask he bought when he was in Goron City and when all the Gorons were on his side. Placing the mask upon his visage, he hoped that he could fool Darunia, or at least fool him long enough to deliver the proper attack.

As unlikely as it was, the mask that Link picked up fooled Darunia for a moment. Taking full advantage of what he deemed his only shot at victory, Link charged at his opponent and leapt high into the air. From there, he struck Darunia upon the crown of his head with the brunt force of the Master Sword.

Though Gorons are, as a rule, relatively thick-headed, this attack was powerful enough to render their leader unconscious, but thankfully without having done any significant damage that would last long after he awoke again.

Again, Link tuned to Swipe. He asked him, "So now that I've defeated your lackeys, are you going to fight me?"

Sighing, Swipe told him, "Your eagerness to meet your doom astounds me, young hero. If you defeat me, what makes you think that you'll be able to help restore the rest of Hyrule to the state they were in before I altered them? Defeating me alone won't do that. But I'll make you a deal; if you agree to be my slave, I'll return Hyrule to its former state. However, you'll have to come along with me."

Trusting his roots, Link told him, "The reason they call me the Hero of Time is because I faced odds that no man was thought able to face. If I could defeat the mighty Ganondorf, I can certainly take down the likes of someone like you. Besides, I have a feeling of how I can undo your power over the Hylians."

Somewhat offended by Link's spirit and hope, Swipe told him, "Well then, if you think you can restore Hyrule so easily, then I'll have to stop you myself. Be warned, I'm not the pushover you might take me for. I earned my name."

Drawing a sword, but no shield, Swipe readied for battle with Link. Before Link had time to think, Swipe was upon him, ready to deliver a bevy of swipes with his sword. He may have been somewhat wild with his strikes, but he definitely had a powerful feeling behind them.

Still, the skill level of the haughty Swipe was nothing compared to Link's style, at least at the moment. Link easily blocked the attacks that were close to him, and then quickly stabbed at his opponent while he was between some of his sword attacks. His attacks weren't that powerful, but they were quick enough to allow Link to defend himself.

However, when Swipe saw that Link was relying on his shield more than he was upon his sword, he somehow levitated the shield and threw it over to the corner of the room where all the guards and Darunia were lying. It was time to see who, amongst the two combatants, was the greater swordsman, dependant not only upon the mastery of the blade, but upon speed and accuracy.

Swipe quickly took an advantage based on his wild swings, but that advantage didn't' last long. After Link took the first attack from Swipe, he quickly rolled to his right, avoiding the next attack. Then, shooting up from his crouching position, Link thrust his sword into the back of his opponent.

Though Swipe was a weaker opponent than many that Link had faced, he returned to his feet in a somewhat shaky manner. It seemed that the powerful thrust had delivered sufficient damage to considerably weaken the newest man who meticulously and insanely attempted to overtake Hyrule. If Link delivered another one of those attacks, the battle would definitely be over in an instant; he readied to strike again.

Unlike the last time Link attempted to thrust his sword into Swipe, he had the sword attack parried effectively by the rapid tempo of Swipe's long blade. Snickering, Swipe took his parry and used it to deflect Link's momentum into the closest wall.

From that painful position, Link luckily fell from the wall very quickly, as he realized that had he fallen any slower, he would have been skewered by Swipe's sword. However, seeing an opening, Link rolled between Swipe's open legs and struck him from behind with the Master Sword.

The attack was mighty enough to force Swipe to his knees, and this time the man would not again stand for battle. Admitting defeat at the hands of the better swordsman, especially since he was truly a coward at heart, Swipe laid down his blade and admitted defeat.

"I did not want to admit it, but you did rightfully defeat me, accursed Hero of Time. I'm not going to return Hyrule to the way it was, but I know when my regime has been defeated, so I'll go away. I warn you, you haven't seen the last of you. Next time, I'll defeat you handily."

Link said nothing, but instead delivered a glance telling the defeated usurper to leave, not wanting to resort to violence to make him leave.

Slowly, he slunk away and retreated from Hyrule in the same way that he entered it.

When Link knew that Swipe had soundly left, he bent down over his Goron friend and asked his unconscious form, while resting a hand on his shoulder, "What happened to make such a thing happen?"

Suddenly, Link heard a small clatter, as if something fell upon the ground, but he assumed it was just the movement of one of the guards' weapons, finally falling to the ground. However, much to his surprise, Darunia opened his eyes and had the old familiar look of friendliness about him.

Rubbing his head, mainly in the area where he had been hit with the Master Sword, Darunia asked, "Sworn Brother? What are you doing here? What am I doing here? Where are we?"

Realizing that Darunia was back in his right mind, Link said, "I think I've got the way to return Hyrule to its former state. I'll tell you about this later, Darunia, but now we've got to help me get to everybody in Hyrule and help them recover from this plague."

"If you say so, Link; I'll follow you and give you a hand," he said caringly.

From there, Link set out upon Hyrule and slowly regained the trust of the land by freeing the people from the power Swipe's strange creations. Once he had gathered all of the implements up, Link destroyed them in the lava of Death Mountain. All was well again in the land of Hyrule.


End file.
